Monday, August 31, 2009

This is a rather impressive eight minute film tracing the progressive changes instigated by Conservative leaders through the ages. Guido thinks it proves how left wing the Conservatives have become. Nonsense. The Conservative Party has always had a progressive streak running through it, and I can't think many of the examples shown in the video anyone would seriously seek to reverse (apart from two - you can guess which I mean!).

The video forms part of Conservative History week on the party website. Politics is generally thought of being more about the future, but we need to be reminded sometimes of past achievements - and mistakes. Whoever said that if you don't learn from history you are condemned to repeat it got it spot on.

How do you fancy Margaret Thatcher or Winston Churchill ringtones for your mobile phone? As part of Conservative History week on the Conservative Party Website, they have launched these free ringtones, with Margaret Thatcher saying "The lady's Not for Turning" and Winston Churchill proclaiming "We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches".

Last night I took part in a seven minute long discussion on the Westminster Hour with Alex Smith of LabourList about internet strategies in the runup to the election. A main point I made towards the end of the debate was that email is far more important than blogs, Twitter and Facebook in a party's internet strategy. If I were a parliamentary candidate now, yes I would use all aspects of the new media in my campaign, but I would spend as much time as possible garnering constituents' email addresses and communicating with them regularly via that means rather than thinking that twittering or blogging was the be all and end all.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Alex Hilton (editor Recess Monkey & LabourHome) has just posted an explanation and defence of his Mayor of Baltimore spoof site HERE. He ends up asking people if they think what he did was incompatible with his status as a parliamentary candidate. Alex, in case you were unaware, is the Labour Candidate for Chelsea & Fulham.

It's a fair question. He says he has not been contacted by anyone at Labour HQ, but admits that some of his comrades are less than pleased with him. The trouble is, Alex has form on this. Remember his 'jolly little jape' about Margaret Thatcher dying? Other Labour candidates are asking how he can get away with going on TV and constantly calling for Gordon Brown to shape up or quit.

When you become a party candidate you have to recognise that you owe your Party some loyalty. Not blind loyalty, but you have to be aware that if you step out of line, you may well be disciplined. I have little doubt that if Alex had been a Tory candidate he would have had several dressing downs by now, and rightly so.

I have had a few ups and downs with Alex over the years. He's one of the most tribal people I know and genuinely believes that all Tories are by definition all racists and homophobes. He even accused me of being homophobic once, live on TV! But despite all this, I can't help liking him. His cheeky chappy disposition allows him to get away with things others never would, butAlex would do well to steer clear of this sort of hoax or joke in future. If he is to make progress in the Labour Party he needs to start making friends rather than enemies.

I have no idea whether the timing of Gordon Brown's trip to Afghanistan was deliberately planned to scupper David Cameron's visit, which had been in diary for weeks if not months. I'd like to think not. But doesn't the fact that both the media and many Labour supporters think it was, tell you an awful lot about how people feel he has debased our politics?

The trip to Iraq during the 2007 Conservative conference is still etched in people's memories. I find it difficult to believe that the misjudgement (to call it at its kindest) could be deliberately repeated, but with this crew, you can never tell. They're that nasty, and that stupid.

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The excellent new Welsh Conservative blog Cardiff Blogger has the story of how a Labour councillor in Carmarthen tried to bully a teenage youth into reversing his decision to pull out of a concert in Libya marking the 40th anniversary of Gadaffi's rise to power.

Carmarthen Labour councillor Marc Scaife, who has put his name forward for selection as the party’s parliamentary candidate in Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, left on Wednesday for a controversial tour of Libya with Burry Port Town Band.

The band have been criticised for continuing with the tour – part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi coming to power – after the release last week of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

In the phone message, a man who identifies himself as Marc Scaife, uses highly offensive language to berate a 19-year-old member of the band who pulled out of the Libyan tour at a late stage, creating a perceived security problem.

The caller is heard saying: “Listen very f****** carefully. You are a f****** idiot…There’s a massive security risk because of you. Do you realise what’s actually going on? Is anything going on in your tiny little mind?

“We are supposed to be playing in front of some of the biggest world leaders out there. Security is 100% tight and it includes the British Royal Family.

“I expect you to sort this f****** thing out. You go up there, you sort it out or expect a call from MI5. All right?

“I’ve had some serious explaining to do because of your irresponsible actions. Call me back as soon as you get this f****** message or I’ll be driving over to your parents’ house tonight to speak to them.

“Wise up, s***head.”

Charming. Mr Scaife is in the process of wanting to be a Labour parliamentary candidate. I suspect his chances may have been slightly damaged by this. Just my guess, you understand!

Tim Montgomerie had the scoop that Fraser Nelson is to become the new editor of The Spectator. He says virtually everything I would want to say about Fraser, who I regard as the most talented young writer on British politics today. I only hope that sitting in the editor's chair won't affect his prodigious output.

The appointment comes as a surprise, if only because no one knew there was about to be a vacancy. Matthew D'Ancona is leaving to pursue as yet undefined other interests. He's done a tremendous job in his three and a half years in the post. His main legacy is perhaps the successful move into the internet era and the launch of the Coffee House blog, which has become a must read for anyone in politics.

Matthew is going to continue writing his Sunday Telegraph column, but I imagine he will be taking on a key job elesewhere before too long. If I were David Cameron I'd certainly think of offering him a key role in a revitalised Downing Street Policy Unit if he wins the election. And maybe a peerage to go along with it. He would be an excellent voice for Conservatism on the red benches.

Of course, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that D'Ancona has decided to step down to pursue a political career on the green benches. I have no knowledge to that effect, but if he did decide to head in that direction it is something every Conservative should welcome.

Alex Hilton has finally got a hoax right. A couple of years ago he tried to convince the world that Margaret Thatcher had died. Yesterday he launched a website pretending to be the Mayor of Baltimore, who was "outraged", I say "outraged" by Chris Grayling's comments likening some British city centres to the Baltimore based series The Wire. Despite there being plenty of clues on the website (copyright R Monkee, British spelling etc) some pretty big media institutions fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Check THIS out from The Guardian. Even the Baltimore Sun fell for it. And so, unbelievably did the BBC.

Much of the lefty blogosphere also fell into line, which won't make Alex very popular. Indeed, LabourList's Alex Smith is spitting blood. But it's the reaction of the Liberal Sanctimony Conspiracy site that really takes the biscuit. They too were taken in and just reproduced the whole thing without checking - what's commonly called 'churnalism'. But hang on a cotton pickin' minute. Isn't that just the sort of thing the holier than thou chief of Liberal Conspiracy Sunny Hundal constantly rails against? Indeed so, but rather than hold his hands up and admit his site is just as bad as those he constantly criticises, he launches an attack on Guido Fawkes, who left a comment pointing out...

Regurgitating a press release without doing any independent checking isn’t journalism, it is churnalism, something you condemn repeatedly.

Hundal replied in his normal charming manner...

Guido – wait, you’re giving us advice now on journalism are you? You idiot – I’m not running a press release and passing it off as original journalism – I’m reporting and linking to a statement made by someone. I know that you’re desperate to defend the Tories these days and a bit annoyed that left blogs are increasingly flexing their muscles* – but I suggest you take your moralising someplace where people take your opinion seriously.

* My emphasis. You really do have to feel sorry for him, don't you. On his other site, Pickled Politics, which is obsessed by supposed examples of apparent racism, he has a go at the Daily Telegraph, using the inflammatory headline...

Daily Telegraph Goes for Naked Racism

Of course, it does nothing of the sort, as any half sensible person reading the article would agree. A few weeks ago the Daily Telegraph threatened Nadine Dorries (who is back blogging on a daily basis) with legal action after she accused its owners of promoting the BNP.

Surely what Hundal has accused the Telegraph of is just as bad. Perhaps Sunny had better prepare his legal defence.

UPDATE: Alex Hilton will be on Sky News at 7pm talking about the scam.

UPDATE 7pm: The Mayor of Baltimore's media spokesman has just been on Sky News saying that they are going to take legal action against Alex Hilton. A bit of an overreaction, I would have thought. It just shows how what seems like a funny joke can spiral out of control.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

If you want an example of what good blogging is all about, click HERE to read the LibDem blogger Mark Reckons' views of Dan Hannan's interview in which he explained why Enoch Powell was a great influence on him. Mark explains why he is sick and tired of the kneejerk attacks on Hannan. He's then taken to task in the comments by one or two of his readers. He patiently defends his line and a good debate is had by all.

Hannan is quite within his rights to explain why Powell influenced his politics. I met Enoch Powell and heard him speak. I have read some of his writings. I have read Simon Heffer's excellent biography of him. Those who attack Hannan for his influences do so without knowing anything about Powell except that one, infamous speech. Powell was the intellectual superior of 99% of his left wing critics. An hour in his company would convince anyone of that. You don't have to agree with someone for them to have an influence on you. We are all influenced to one extent or another by all those we come into contact with, whether it is consciously or subconsciously. And on Powell, Tony Blair was right when he said...

He was one of the great figures of 20th-century British politics, gifted with a brilliant mind

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Sunday, August 23, 2009

Having miserably failed to find anywhere to go on holiday in the South of France at short notice, we're now heading off to the west country for five days. I'm sure I'll find the English riviera as alluring as the French one would have been. Ahem. After that I'm spending a couple of days in Glasgow at the end of the week, although this will be a bit of a busman's holiday as I am speaking at a conference of political academics on Saturday.

All this means that unless the weather is awful and/or I am bored out of my tiny mind, there won't be much blogging (if any) over the course of the next seven days. And to be honest, it will probably do me good to have a complete break from it.

I will, however, keep twittering from time to time, If you don't follow my twitter feed but would like to click HERE.

You don't get much more Cameroon that Platform 10's Fiona Melville. She could be described as an "Ur-Cameroon", almost more Cameroon than David Cameron himself. She will probably have been horrified by Gaby Hinsliff's Observer article (published yesterday) which drew attention to her criticism of the leadership. She wrote...

I would go further and acknowledge that there are some inherent contradictions in current Conservative thinking. For example, it is undeniable that despite championing the concept of localism, there are many policy interventions that are anything but localist. It is undeniable that despite talking the talk on encouraging stable families, the marriage tax bonus is planned to be limited to a man married to a woman, whether or not they have children, and will ignore the many other varieties of what I would argue are also ’stable families’. It is undeniable that inheritance tax cuts as the first Conservative tax cut was at the time morally wrong, to my mind, and now probably unaffordable. Fortunately that one seems to have been kicked into the long-grass.

Platform 10 was set up in large part as a reaction to ConservativeHome. Those behind Platform 10 felt ConHome was far too disloyal to the Cameron project and were determined to redress the balance. It's never quite taken off, despite having some excellent contributors. It is perversely ironic that this critical article will give it a profile it has so far lacked. Perhaps one might forgive Tim Montgomerie a wry smile.

But there is a lesson in this for all Conservative bloggers. It shows that all political journalists are on the lookout for any sign of internal Conservative dissent. Splits create stories, especially in quiet news cycles like August. We bloggers may like to kid ourselves that in some way we are separate from the Conservative Party, but that is not how much of the media sees us. It's a real conundrum, which I know Tim Montgomerie wrestles with just as much as I do. We're not elected to anything and hold no position in the party but even constructive criticism is interpreted by the media as evidence of unrest and disquiet in the ranks, when it is nothing of the sort.

As an election draws ever closer Conservative leaning bloggers are unlikely to offer unconditional or uncritical support. But they wouldn't be human if they didn't from time to time, hesitate to go in quite as hard as they once might have done, as a little voice in their head wonders if what they write isn't going to rebound on the wider cause.

ComRes have a poll out in tomorrow's Independent on Sunday which shows a virtually unchanged Tory lead of 17'%. That's not very interesting. However, this is.

When people were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that "The NHS would be safer under Labour than the Conservatives", only 39% agreed and 47% disagreed.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes chief exec, commented: "This is a killer for Labour – they have lost their advantage on one of the biggest electoral drivers."

Among people who refuse to say how they will vote, or don’t know, 28% agree with this statement compared with 41% who disagree. So for all their banging on about how much they love the NHS and how the Tories would privatise it on day one, it seems they might as well have saved their breath.

Going back to the voting intention part of the poll, the Conservatives are comfortably ahead among every age group and even among social groups C2 and DE.

At 16%, others remain high but only 1% are ‘other others’.

Only 50% of people who voted Labour in 2005 are ‘absolutely certain’ to vote now compared with 75% of 2005 Tory voters

Only 66% of 2005 Labour voters intend to vote for that party now, and only 70% of 2005 Lib Dem voters intend to vote for that party

I do not begrudge Gordon Brown a holiday. Prime Ministers need them just as much as the rest of us. But six weeks? He went on holiday on 27 July and is due back at work on 7 September. Nice work if you can get it.

Perhaps Mr Mandelson is in the middle of launching A Very British Coup. If rumours are to be believed it was his conversation with Colonel Gadaffi's son which gave the Libyans the impression that the release of Al Megrahi was all about trade. Mandelson may be all powerful, but last time I looked he had no jurisdiction over the Scottish Justice Ministry. But in the diplomatic world a nod is as good as a wink. You can just imagine the charming scene at the Rothschild villa in Corfu, can't you. As Mr Gadaffi and Mandy share an evening cocktail Gadaffi starts talking about the possible release of Megrahi.

Gadaffi: We would of course look very favourably upon increasing trade links with Britain should, er, you know...Mandy: And we would naturally like to do more business with your country.Gadaffi: Good, glad we got that sorted out so quickly.Mandy: Excuse me, I seem to have a bit of a pain in the groin...

Hundreds of thousands of people not charged or convicted of any crime have nevertheless had their DNA taken by the police and stored, despite a European court ruling that “innocent” people’s DNA shouldn’t be held.

So here’s my problem: how do I persuade the police to store my DNA? Why should I, an “innocent” person, be denied the right to have my fingerprint and other personal data included in the national database with everyone else’s, “innocent” and guilty alike?

I feel like my civil liberties are being compromised the longer this outrage continues.

Very droll, but I'll tell him why he should be concerned. Ronald Reagan (not for the first time) put it best when he said that the most dangerous words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I am here to help". We should always question any expansion of the power of the state. Just because the forces of government say something is necessary, we shouldn't do what Tom invariably does and say, OK, you've taken away another one of my hard won freedoms, would you like this one over here too?". We should fight for our privacy, protect our civil liberties and resist any attempt to store further information on unwanted and hugely expensive government databases.

One of the reasons I always wanted to go into politics was to try to protect people from big government. It looks like that fight is far from won. Labour used to revel in its reputation as the party of civil liberties. That reputation has been shot to bits. And Tom Harris delights in pulling the trigger.

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1. Tory Politico cannot believe the sexism of the chairman of Gosport Tories.2. Tom Harris gives Sunny Hundal some advice, and cuts him down to size. About time someone did.3. Paul Waugh is turning Japanese, I really think so.4. PoliticalBetting on the day Guido killed the Labour government.5. Public Affairs Central on the lobbyists who are turning away from Labour.6. Simon Chapman on the love that is not blind.7. Cicero's Songs on Democracy 2.0 in Estonia.8. Michael Crick on how (not) to get sex at the Tory Party Conference.9. Tory Rascal attacks the smears on General Dannatt.10. Tory Radio on the consequences of grade inflation.11. James Kirkup on how the American election cycle will affect our involvement in Afghanistan.12. Nadine Dorries reviews Henry Porter's novel THE DYING LIGHT.

This morning I played golf for the first time this year. This was my lie on the 7th for my fourth shot, having already visited a bunker. Would you believe me if I told you I chipped in? Probably the best wedge shot I am ever likely to play.

As you can imagine, I felt the need to share this little triumph with you.

Having not played in more than a year I didn't hold out too much hope of playing very well, and with an 8 on the first hole, I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the round. However, the next eight holes went superbly well - all fours and fives. But the less said about the second nine the better...

In the new issue of Total Politics, out today, I interview Ann Widdecombe. The interview has made a few waves in the papers this morning, with the Telegraph concentrating on her view on candidate selection and climate change and the Mail relishing the possibility of her appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. In the interview...

Reveals she is going to write a detective novel and has started writing her memoirs

Says: “If I am offered it [a Peerage] I shall take it.” But says she does not want to be a Minister in a future Conservative government.

Says: “I came into this place as a Member of Parliament, I leave it as an employee of the House of Commons… I think we’re going to have a third rate parliament.”

Accuses the government of pushing through parliamentary reforms “which are the equivalent of the Dangerous Dogs Act”.

Says that “there has been an attitude in the Conservative Party for some time that grey hair isn’t worth anything.”

Says that MPs who lost in 1997 have been “treated with contempt by the Party”.

When asked if one should kiss on a first date she replies: “It depends what sort of kiss one is talking about. I don’t wish to go into that any further!”

Says Conservative Central Office told her association that they were not selecting her successor on merit. “One of my association asked the Central Office Agent: “Are you telling us we may not select on merit?” and with admirable honesty the Central Office agent said ‘yes’.”

Warns the party not to “blindly” sign up to the climate change agenda. “There is a deep unease that we are rushing into a theology. Those who asked questions are ‘deniers’. We are rushing into a theology imposed by the equivalent of what has become the mediaeval church and no one’s allowed to question it. And even by questioning it you’re doing the world a massive disservice and bringing it under perdition. A lot of us are very unhappy.

Reveals she may accept an offer to go on Strictly Come Dancing next year.

Says she would like to present Have I Got News For You again, having previously said she wouldn’t.

Accuses fellow women MPs of looking for sexism in politics but denies she has experienced it much.

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All afternoon I have been receiving emails from American friends about the al Megrahi decision. Here's one from a very good friend of mine in Washington DC...

I am simply in shock that the UK would allow the Pam Am terrorist who killed my countrymen and yours to go free. Even as he is dying, why should he be permitted to die a free man? Its called a life sentence because you spend your whole life there which includes when you die.

I never thought I would see the day. Could you imagine Mrs. Thatcher calling President Reagan to explain this? There is no way she would have ever done that. Reagan would have asked her if she was feeling all right and told her to rest and call him back when she was back to her senses.

I am astounded.

I have tried to explain that it was not the UK who allowed him to go free - it was the Scottish Executive. But I doubt whether anyone is in the mood to listen.

I wonder what the long term implications of this are for UK-US relations. I can already imagine there being some boycott of Scottish goods by US consumers and the number of tourists declining dramatically. It would of course be wrong to take these considerations into account when making a quasi-legal decision, but it is clear that there will be consequences. Or will US politicians go through the motions of criticising the decision because they have to for their domestic audience? Who knows.

It is not feasible that the Prime Minister can get away with a no comment policy on this case. Alistair Darling has said that it was right the Scottish Executive made its own decision. Well, thanks for that insight, Alistair. Much appreciated.

Finally, reading through the comments on the previous thread, I shake my head in disbelief at the naivety of some of them. The number of people who protest that al Megrahi is innocent is astonishing - particularly as most of them say that without then going on to explain why. He was convicted by a court of law and then withdrew his appeal for reasons as yet unclear. I can respect those who believe his release was a compassionate decision. What I cannot respect are those who assume he is innocent without having a clue why.

Be still my sinking heart. John Prescott today, via Twitter, challenged David Cameron to a debate on the NHS. The Manchester Evening News published David Cameron's response...

"The real question is why won't Labour match the Conservatives' pledge for year on year real-terms increases in NHS spending over the next Parliament"

David Cameron would have been well advised not to respond to Prescott, who holds no position and is just living up to his nickname of The Mouth of the Humber. But let's ignore Prescott and look at the substance of what Cameron said. I understand the politics of it, but is it really consistent on the one hand to make speeches about how serious our debt crisis is, and then on the other hand tell everyone how NHS spending is ringfenced, and not only that, it will be increased year on year regardless of economic circumstances.?

I do not advocate cuts in frontline services, but neither can I advocate increased spending in a government department which has already been stuffed with money over the last twelve years and failed to achieve the commensurate improvement in service levels.

David Cameron takes a different stance. In his speech today in Bolton he said...

The debt crisis means we need a new approach to public spending, to make sure we get more for less. But in the NHS, even that won’t do. The pressures on healthcare spending – from an ageing population, from medical advances, and from rising expectations – are simply too great... Spending on the NHS cannot stand still, because standing still would be taking a step backwards. That is why we have pledged real-terms increases in NHS spending - unlike Labour – a fact which, to put it mildly, takes the wind out of their point-scoring sails."

So far, so logical. But people understand the need for the government to rein in its horns in times of economic crisis. They understand a party that is honest with people and explains where cuts are going to have to call. What they find more difficult is to trust a party which then says it will increase spending in an area of policy which in the past has been politically toxic for them. To say that the NHS oil tanker of spending cannot be turned around is to give up. It won't be quick and it won't be easy, but it can be done.

We need to cut the levels of absenteeism (which is costing close on £2 billion a year) and increase productivity levels, which have dropped by nearly 5% since 1997. And no one is telling me there isn't waste and bureaucracy which can't be attacked.

If our levels of debt and borrowing are so serious that they threaten the very future of our economy, how can anyone justify ringfencing anything? Just askin'.

I readily agree that it is a persuasive list but it would also be possible to draw up similar lists for many other public sector budgets - budgets that have not enjoyed the growth of resources enjoyed by the NHS. My greater objection, however, is the question of affordability. Britain borrowed £8bn last month against an expected borrowing requirement of £500m. The BBC reports that the government's overall debt now stands at £801bn, or 56.8% of GDP, its highest level since at least 1974.

Ministers are appointed to make decisions, and today Kenny MacAskill made the wrong one. The Scottish Justice Minister has freed the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds, in order to him to return to Libya to die. He has terminal cancer and less than three months to live.

Showing compassion is a laudable character trait. Jack Straw showed it recently with his decision to free the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. But neither Biggs, nor al-Megrahi have shown the slightest remorse or contrition about their crimes, and on that basis did not deserve to be shown any compassion. Neither showed any mercy to the victims of their crimes or their families.

This may sound hard and heartless, but I the only emotions I feel towards al-Megrahi are contempt and anger. His failure to comprehend the magnitude of his crimes and say sorry to those affected by them should have meant that he died in the place he belongs. Prison.

"In my view the Cabinet is not the right body in which to attempt to make difficult decisions. Since at least the late Seventies the Cabinet has been used to ratify decisions rather than to take them."

Those are the words of Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff. Doesn't that tell you all you need to know about the way the country has been governed over the last twelve years. I don't detect that anything has changed since Gordon Brown took over. I do so hope that things will be different under David Cameron and we can get back to proper cabinet government. The Cabinet is indeed there to take decisions, not just ratify them.

But let's not just put all the blame on Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. A Cabinet is only as strong as the people appointed to it. If they are willing to lie down and have their stomachs tickled, rather than challenge and debate, then it is they who should receive our opprobrium, rather than Blair and Brown.

Powell says Cabinet Government has been run this way since the late 1970s. This is complete rubbish. No one who knows anything about the Major government could seriously suggest that his Cabinet was run in this manner. And there are a lot of myths about the way Margaret Thatcher ran her Cabinet. I accept that in her latter years there was a tendency to treat it as an instrument of ratification, but you only have to read the memoirs of her ministers and the academic analyses of the time to know that there were some fairly fearsome arguments. Just because she led from the front, that didn't mean she always got her way.

Conservative Cabinet Ministers need to start as they mean to go on if and when they take over. Perhaps they all need a lecture from Professor Peter Hennessy in the art of proper cabinet government.

I don't know about you, but I find nowadays that it takes me three months to read a book, as the only time I have to read is just before I go to sleep. And within three pages my eyes have closed. Indeed, sometimes I wake up at 5am with the light still on and with me still holding the book open. As a consequence, it took me a couple of months to complete Paddy Ashdown's excellent autobiography.

I use the word 'excellent' because it really is. It's a very honest book, in which he is very up front about his own failings as a man and as a political leader, but his book deserves to be read for another reason. Many people have got the impression that Ashdown is a slightly holier than thou figure - a caricature he recognises himself in the book. What they don't know much about - and why should they? - is the bravery of the man. For the first time he talks about his career in the armed services and special forces. At times he has to pull his punches, but you get the feeling that if the Great British Public had known about his service career in more detail, they might have been inclined to vote for him in greater numbers.

Whatever his political failings - and he admits to many - what no one can take away from him is the fact that he singlehandedly rescued the Liberal Democrats from the brink of going out of business, and took them to a point where they very nearly entered government. To go from 22 MPs to 46 was indeed a real achievement, which established the LibDems as a real third force in British politics.

One of the reasons I describe this as an honest book is because of the way he describes the whole 'Paddy Pantsdown' incident. It's not easy for anyone to write about painful personal issues, especially issues which must have been devastating to one's nearest and dearest. But he does so movingly and with candour. It is to my eternal shame that at Politico's we used to have a set of political lingerie with political slogans across the front. It's not often in my life that I have felt an inch tall, but I remember running the bookstall at the LibDem conference many years ago and Jane Ashdown came by and saw one of pairs of knickers with "Paddy Pantsdown" on the front. She was not impressed. I was crimson with embarrassment. When I got back to the shop I threw away the remaining stock.

Jane Ashdown is one of the heroes of the book. She clearly had to put up with a lot - moving from place to place, her husband's seemingly deranged ambitions to become a Liberal MP in a seat the Tories had held for seventy years and the fact that his work constantly took him away from her. But it is clear that he could have achieved none of it without her.

I don't normally like reading about politicians' childhoods or pre politics careers, but in Paddy's case, these were the best parts of the book. Many of the chapters read like a thriller, with great tales of daring-do. His description of the cameraderie and loyalty which run through every vein of his service career was something which many of us in the political world would do well to draw a lesson from.

Several LibDem friends point to the chapters on winning Yeovil as the most enjoyable of the book. And indeed, they give a great lesson in perseverance and doggedness that any candidate in a marginal seat must have if they are to win through.

The final part of the book is devoted to his three years as Imperial Ruler (I jest) of Bosnia. The horrors he witnessed during the Balkan wars had a great effect on him, and his bravery in visiting the region on several occasions, when his life was clearly in danger, may have seemed cavalier and foolhardy to some. But these visits gave him a clear hinterland when he was appointed to oversee the government of Bosnia. It is a shame that in the end he was never given the chance to repeat the experience in Afghanistan.

So, as you can see, I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Paddy Ashdown's autobiography. It is a cracking read and will no doubt be one of my books of the year.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

1. Guido fingers Kevan Jones as the man behind the campaign against General Dannatt.2. Tory Politico on why comprehensive schools are shunning difficult subjects.3. David Jones MP on a constituent who has been disadvantaged by devolution.4. Cicero's Songs is back in the country, but is depressed by it.5. Justin Webb says goodbye USA, hello UK.6. Tory Radio on the Labour MP advising private health providers.

Tory Party Chairman Eric Pickles has moved quickly to scotch talk of the Tories adopting a so-called 'decapitation strategy' against a group of senior Cabinet Ministers, which I commented on earlier.

Speaking to me earlier, he described the idea as "clearly bunkum", and he alleged that "someone on the periphery of the campaign may have decided to big themselves up". He pledged that the party was concentrating on its 120 target seats. "Nothing will divert us onto playing the man rather than the ball," he added.

Or even Balls...

Pickles made clear that the party would continue to focus on areas where the party needed to win votes rather than rack them up in safer seats. That's exactly the strategy which the party successfully followed in the local elections - maximising votes where they were needed. "There is not, and never has been a decapitation strategy'," he added.

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I just read on Andrew Nutt's blog the following about a new law which has come into force in Afghanistan...

A new law was recently passed that an Afghan husband is allowed to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex with him. A woman must have also her husband’s permission to work. An earlier bill asked Shia women to have sex with their husbands every four days at a minimum. It also removed the need for consent to sex within marriage, effectively condoning rape. This amended version has been published in the official gazette and become law.

Surely this can't be true, I thought. Is this what our armed forces are fighting for? But yes, it is true. HERE's the report from MSNBC.

And there was me thinking we were there to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Aghanistan. How naive.

25% think it should remain at £65,0007 % think MPs shouldn't be paid at all6% think MPs should get the national average wage10% think MPs should be paid £45,00018% think £80,000 is an appropriate remuneration10% think £95,000 is the right figure16% agree with Sir Patrick Cormack - £130k but no allowances

And one person emailed me to say he wanted to vote for £250,000 - seriously.

So al in all 25% say the current figure is right, 23% lower and 42% higher. I am not sure those figures would be reflected in the population as a whole. Has any national polling company done any work in this area?

The Evening Standard has an editorial today which proposes hiking MPs' pay. This follows the suggestion by Sir Patrick Cormack that MPs' pay should be doubled, but at the same time they should lose their expenses.

I can't imagine there are many people who would support MPs' pay being hiked like that, and nor would I. It is politically impossible let alone undesirable. How, in these times, could such a move be justified to people who are losing their own jobs, never mind not getting pay rises. But until the job of setting MPs' remuneration is properly ceded to an independent body, the issue will continue to emerge every so often and inevitably result in bad headlines.

I'd love to know the name of the bright spark of thought up the idea of a "decapitation strategy" to get rid of various Cabinet Ministers at the next election.

After all, it worked so well when the Liberal Democrats tried it last time, didn't it? All it does is to make the Tories look rather triumphalist and vindictive.

However, The Observer'sGaby Hinsliff thinks it is an example of how high the Tories' electoral ambitions are nowadays. Maybe. But it's a needless distraction. It is one thing to have such a strategy, it is another to talk openly about it. All it does is allow the MPs concerned to prepare.

Campaign strategists who talk to the press about campaign strategies need to be muzzled. It rarely ends well.

It's stories like THIS in today's Times, which make me despair about the quality of some of our political journalism. Full of innuendo, attempts to smear, but backed up by very little.

Lord McColl is a junior Tory health spokesman. Heard of him? No, me neither. In real life he is a surgeon. He also happens to be a consultant to Endeavour Health, a new private healthcare company that provides a fee-paying rival to the National Health Service’s family doctor service. Obviously in these NHS-loving times, that rates alongside being Jack the Ripper's handyman. Lord McColl has declared his interest in the register of members' interests, and yet The Times is insinuating that he has done something wrong. He hasn't.

I have no idea of Lord McColl's financial circumstances, but he wouldn't be alone in needing to earn a living. Contrary to popular rumour, peers to do not get paid. They get an attendance allowance of £174 £86.50 per sitting day. Last year, that would have trousered them £27,840 £14,186 . So unless you have private means, you have to have outside work. With McColl's background as a surgeon, it is hardly surprising that he has taken on a consultancy in the field of his own expertise.

Let's roam into the world of fantasy. Imagine if I were in the House of Lords (yes, we can all laugh - I don't look good in Ermine anyway). Imagine further if I were an junior front bench spokesman shadowing the DCMS. Could I exist on the attendance allowance? No. I also don't have the private means to allow me to do so. So I would have to have some sort of declarable outside income. Why shouldn't this come from my own company, which publishes Total Politics? Ah, I hear you cry, but publishing falls under the remit of DCMS. Indeed it does. But if it is all transparently declared, and people know what my role outside the House of Lords is, what's the problem? Sure, if I start making speeches calling for tax breaks for political publishers, people would be entitled to smell a very large rat, but can The Times point to any instance of McColl abusing his position to do the equivalent within his health portfolio. No. The worst that The Times can throw at him is ...

Lord McColl’s involvement with a private healthcare provider highlights the strains within the Conservative Party, which is trying to present itself as a champion of the NHS while also maintaining its traditional links with the industry.

Dear oh dear. So to demonstrate their lurrve for the NHS all Conservatives are supposed to abandon any connection with the health private sector? Next we'll be having a jihad on any Conservative politician who has the temerity to pay for health insurance.

Of course nowhere in the Times "story" did they mention Lord McColl's work for the charity Mercy Ships. Every summer Lord McColl goes to the West coast of Africa, at his own expense, and spends a couple of weeks performing operations on African children who would otherwise die.

They then have a go at another Tory health spokesman over a recent trip to the US which was finded by BUPA...

The growing links between the private sector and Tory health frontbenchers are also demonstrated by the disclosure that Mark Simmonds, a Shadow Health Minister, accepted flights and accommodation for a mission to the United States courtesy of Britain’s biggest private health provider, Bupa. The flights and accommodation bringing him to Boston were worth £4,512. He visited Massachusetts General Hospital, a medical foundation, and Health Dialog, part of Bupa, which specialises in “health coaching and shared decision-making”.

I'd call that, doing his job. This wasn't some sun-soaked jolly. It was a trip to learn more about how the health system is run in another country. Is that now a crime? The trip was fully declared. This kind of innuendo further adds to the feeling which many MPs now have, that they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Simmonds could easily not have gone on that trip, stayed at home and learned nothing. He probably now wishes he had.

Let me use this opportunity to defend private healthcare. Its opponents are effectively saying that people like me and Gordon Brown, who use private healthcare, should not be allowed to decide how to use our own money. I use both the NHS and private health. My experience of the NHS has generally been very good. I have an excellent GP and the treatment I have had for my diabetes has been execellent. No complaints at all on that score. My experience of hospitals is somewhat different, but I won't dwell on that.

Two years ago I had to have an operation - nothing serious, you understand. I could have had it done on the NHS, but it was also covered under my private healthcare. There was a three month waiting list on the NHS, which in itself wasn't a huge issue, but I decided to have it done privately at least partyl on the basis that I then wouldn't further clog up the NHS system and someone else could use my place in the queue. Was I wrong to that, as no doubt some would allege? I felt I was doing the right thing and thinking of others.

Is Gordon Brown wrong to use private health for his dentistry needs? We have to get away from this system of health apartheid, where NHS fundamentalists would seriously suggest that there should be no interaction between the NHS and the private sector at all. Conversely, those who believe the state should have no role in the provision of healthcare also need to be taken on. The state does indeed have a role - the debate is about how large that role should be and whether it should actively denigrate and discourage the use of private healthcare. And it is a debate we should be able to have without the likes of Andy Burnham trying to prevent it from happening.

UPDATE: I made a mistake in the House of Lords allowances. They are not £174 per day, the attendance allowance is, in fact £86.50. There is a £174 overnight allowance, which only applies to Peers who live outside London. As someone has pointed out in the Comments, Lord McColl has not claimed this.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

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I know quite a few readers of this blog frequent the many literary festivals which take place around the country. I have been asked by the organisers of the Cheltenham Festival which runs from 9 - 18 October to publicise three events related to politics, one of which I am taking part in myself

Last Friday was a bit sad. It was the day Total Politics editor Sarah MacKinlay left her job to start up a new PR company called Journalista. Having just put her 15th issue to bed, Sarah can look back on her 18 months as editor of the magazine with pride. When I appointed her I knew she was being thrown in at the deep end, but she rose to the challenge magnificently. I know we are all going to miss her terribly, but I am glad to say she will still be writing the odd piece for us.

I know what a challenge it is to start up a new business in a recession. Journalista, among other things, will be doing PR for politicians and other participants in the world of politics. As you might be able to tell from the farewell cover my colleagues organised for her, Sarah is not backward in coming forward with her opinions! We all wish her the very best of luck and thank her for her sterling work for the magazine.

Her replacement as editor is Ben Duckworth, who has also been with the magazine since the beginning. Up until now he has been TP's political editor.

We have also recruited a new political correspondent, Amber Elliott, who joins us from Dods, where she has been Lobby and Parliamentary Reporter for Dods Monitoring. We had some excellent applicants for the job, at least eight of whom would have done the job brilliantly. I hate this process as you have to say 'no' to some really good people. Amber's appointment signals a determination on our part to rethink the TP website and make it much more newsy and content driven.

In a small team, change is always challenging, but I am glad we have maintained continuity with Ben's appointment and I think Amber will bring a lot of flair to the job judging by the ideas she put forward at her interview.

But the main point of this post is to thank Sarah MacKinlay for her time with us and to send her on her way with our very best wishes. Sarah, it's been a blast!